McCall's Israel Trip Lingers As Issue in Governor's Race

When H. Carl McCall, the state comptroller and a Democratic candidate for governor of New York, visited Israel for three days last week, he insisted that it was an official state visit to allow him to inspect Israeli investments financed with the New York State pension fund.

Even though Mr. McCall acknowledged the trip could benefit his bid for governor, he said it would be paid for mostly by the state pension fund, rather than by his campaign.

Yesterday, Mr. McCall's campaign acknowledged the existence of a photograph from that trip taken of the comptroller with a cocked M-16 held to his shoulder, conducting shooting practice at what his aides said was an antiterrorist camp at an undisclosed location in Israel.

Mr. McCall's aides said that none of the $68 million the state pension fund had invested in Israel had gone toward the construction of the camp. The photograph was first published yesterday in The New York Post.

Mr. McCall's Democratic opponent, Andrew M. Cuomo, promptly demanded that Mr. McCall's campaign pay for the trip. That set off a spat between the two candidates that veered the New York campaign for governor halfway across the globe and into the prism of Israeli politics, including Mr. Cuomo's own meeting with Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, in July 2000 when Mr. Cuomo was the nation's housing secretary.

''A picture is worth a thousand words,'' said Mr. Cuomo's campaign manager, Josh Isay. ''This was clearly a political trip, and the comptroller should, one, disclose the cost of the visit and, two, pay back the pension fund.

''Comptroller McCall has said he was there to see firsthand the pension fund's investments in Israel,'' he said. ''How does this relate to the investments? Is target practice in the comptroller's job description?''

Steven Greenberg, Mr. McCall's press secretary, said the trip cost $7,000 to $8,000, including accommodations and air travel for Mr. McCall, a press aide, an advance person and a security guard. The campaign picked up the cost of upgrading Mr. McCall's flight from coach to first class, while State of Israel Bonds, an organization that promotes economic development in Israel, picked up transportation costs there.

But Mr. McCall's campaign aides insisted that the trip was not in any way political, and said that the campaign would not repay the pension fund for its payment.

They said the main purpose of Mr. McCall's visit was to inspect overseas investments, and that there was nothing improper with the decision by Mr. McCall, who was a second lieutenant in the United States Army, to visit the camp and try his hand at firing a few rounds from an M-16.

''What's wrong with it?'' said Hank Sheinkopf, Mr. McCall's chief consultant. ''Joshy and Andy are saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. It is: Carl McCall was on a perfectly legitimate trip to Israel, a country in which he has invested $68 million in Israeli bonds.''

(Aides to Mr. McCall and Gov. George E. Pataki have taken to referring to Mr. Cuomo, who normally uses the name ''Andrew,'' as ''Andy,'' as a way of diminishing his stature and reminding voters that he is the son of Mario M. Cuomo, the former governor. With his remarks yesterday, Mr. Sheinkopf extended the diminishing designation to Andrew Cuomo's chief aide, Mr. Isay.)

Mr. Sheinkopf went on to note that Mr. Cuomo had visited with Mr. Arafat when he visited Israel in 2000 as the secretary of housing and urban development.

''One man goes and sees leaders and then visits Israeli solders who are fighting terrorism every day,'' Mr. Sheinkopf said. ''Another man sits with a terrorist. No wonder Joshy and Andy are so upset.''

Mr. Isay said Mr. Cuomo had visited Mr. Arafat at the behest of President Bill Clinton to discuss, among other things, building housing in the Palestinian territories.

''Since then it has become clear that Arafat is more interested in terror than in peace,'' Mr. Isay said. ''This is all a smoke screen: Carl McCall should pay the money back.''

Mr. Greenberg sought to discourage any suggestion that there was any political calculation on the part of Mr. McCall in allowing himself to be photographed in a military setting, as he enters a contest in which the support of Jewish voters is expected to be crucial.

''Absolutely not,'' Mr. Greenberg said. ''The comptroller didn't realize he was being photographed when he was out on the range, shooting a gun.''